For my friends with middle school age kids, don't think that bullying isn't happening. My daughter sent this e-mail to her principal today after school:
"Hey Mr. Buck It's Hannah Tuller, ..... (removed name) is spreading rumors saying that i'm a lesbian, But i'm not. And It's really hurting my feelings, and if you talk to him, he's going to deny it. Like most kids do when they don't tell the truth. And no matter what he says,
I'm not lying. I'll be totally okay with talking with you during or after school about this. He also said that if I told the teacher this that he was just going to tell more people. So this is really making me upset. So please can we deal with this tomorrow?
RMS G Team
Hannah Tuller
The principal responded back to her in less than an hour! She wrote it on her own, without Patrick or I telling her what to do. I am very proud of her. We need to #stopbullying.
Hannah is a free spirit: she doesn't care if her hair isn't perfect, or if she wears the latest fashion, she doesn't own a cell phone or wear make-up, she doesn't want a boyfriend, and sometimes she forgets to shave her legs. She is twelve! Her choices are her choices! What she does have is: a strong spirit, a fierce loyalty, a kind heart, empathy, a great sense of humor; a love of her family, comic books and The Beatles. I want to go up to school tomorrow morning and talk to the principal. But after talking to some wise people and praying about this I am going to let Hannah handle this and take one more step towards adulthood. she knows I am here if she needs me, but she took the initiative and I trust her to see this through. I will tell her to call me if she needs me, but more and more these days she doesn't need me. This parenting thing is hard but I wouldn't trade it for anything. Last year she had a friend that was being bullied and called names and Hannah went to the principal. She told me that even if ....(friend's name) was gay, he was still her friend and didn't deserve to be bullied over his choice. Tonight she told me that she might not be a lesbian, but what if the next person he bullied was, what would happen then? See there's that kind heart at work. Love that kid.
